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Domain and surface structures of sodium tungsten bronzes, Na/sub x/WO/sub 3/ (0. 4 < x < 1). [157 references]

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6229376· OSTI ID:6229376
The domain and surface structures of metallic sodium tungsten bronzes, Na/sub x/WO/sub 3/, 0.4 < x < 1, were studied using optical microscopy, supplemented by chemical methods, photoelectron spectroscopy, electron microscopy, etc. The birefringent, multidomain structure of the bronze is exhibited by a sodium-deficient, epitaxial surface film and hence is not, as reported elsewhere, a bulk property. The film can be synthesized by anodic electrolysis in alkaline solution and can exist only epitaxially with the substrate. It is chemically inert, translucent, and often laminated to a multilayered film. The film domain is hypersensitive to lateral stress and to thermal change, and appears to be modulated by minute structural changes of the substrate. This epitaxial modulation of the film is strikingly large at the phase transitions of the substrate induced by slightly different tiltings of the oxygen octahedra. The domain-wall movement is often slow enough to be visible, and that by thermal effect is occasionally accompanied by an audible, high-pitched, snapping sound.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
6229376
Report Number(s):
ANL-78-63
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English